India and Russia will sign contract for S-400 missile systems

Russia and India may soon sign a contract for the delivery of S-400 Triumph missiles to the Indian armed forces, the Press Trust of India (PTI) new agency reported quoting Rostec Director for international cooperation Viktor Kladov.

"It is being discussed and the contract is at an advanced stage. Both negotiating teams are working hard. It is a sophisticated system and many technical details have to be agreed," he said.

The cost of the deal, personnel training, technology transfer and the number of complexes for India are being discussed. "As soon as the contract is ready it will be signed," Kladov said.

"Even if we supply the missiles today you will not be able to operate them as two years are necessary to train the personnel," he added.

The S-400 Triumph (SA-21 Growler by NATO classification) is a Russian-made long-range and intermediate air defense missile system designed to eliminate all advanced and perspective aerospace weapons. It can hit aerodynamic targets at a range of up to 400 kilometers and tactical ballistic targets flying at a speed of 4.8 km/s at a distance of up to 60 kilometers. Such targets include cruise missiles, tactical and strategic aircraft and ballistic missile warheads. The radars detect aerial targets at a distance of up to 600 kilometers. The 48N6E3 missiles can hit aerodynamic targets at altitudes of 10,000-27,000 meters and ballistic targets at altitudes of 2,000-25,000 meters.